President Trump is poised to become one of the great world leaders of history by authorizing the move of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the State of Israel and the spiritual center of Judaism.
Donald Trump would be fulfilling the Jerusalem Embassy Act, passed by Congress in 1995. This act recognized an undivided Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the act allocates funds for the building of an embassy there.
This bold act would place President Trump in historic company that would include the Biblical Joshua, who crossed the Jordan River and entered the promised land; King David, who established Jerusalem as the capital of Israel; and King Solomon, who built the Temple in Jerusalem.
Other notables who played significant roles in establishing Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem include the Persian King Cyrus the Great, who authorized, in a written decree that is copied in the Biblical Book of Ezra, the return of the Jews from Babylonian exile and the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem; Judah Maccabee, celebrated by Hanukah, who liberated Jerusalem from the Syrian Greeks; David Ben Gurion, who declared independence for Israel on May 14, 1948; and President Harry S. Truman, who recognized Israel the same day.
In the tradition of Emir Faisal ibn Hussein, the King of Syria and later Iraq who recognized Israel as a Jewish State in 1919 as part of the Paris Peace Conference, Sheikh Abdul Hadi Palazzi sites Koranic verse to make the case for Israel:
Sura 17:104: “And, therefore, We (Allah) said to the children of Israel: ‘Dwell securely in the Promised Land. And when the last warning will come to pass, We (Allah) will gather you (the children of Israel) together (in Israel) in a mingled crowd.'”
The three major monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, all embrace a belief that the children of Israel must take possession of the Promised Land and establish Jerusalem as the political and spiritual center of the land to set the stage for the coming of the Messiah and the ushering in of the Messianic Age. The recognition of Jerusalem as the united capital of Israel thus has profound spiritual implications.
Emir Faisal signed the Faisal-Weizmann Agreement under the condition that the Jewish State recognize and protect the Muslim minority and leave the Muslim holy places in the hands of Muslim authorities. Israel has fulfilled these requests to the letter.
Faisal envisioned a prosperous Jewish State, residing within “modest and proper” borders, working alongside the Arab states that were just establishing their independence from Turkey in the post-World War I period. Faisal hoped that the Jews would assist the Arabs in terms of establishing modern independent democracies with modern economies and technology. His vision is finally being fulfilled as Saudi Arabia, the Gulf States, and Islamic African states are inching toward joining Egypt and Jordan by recognizing Israel and normalizing relations with Israel.
The enemies of Israel, those who oppose the U.S. Embassy move, radical jihadists and their international leftist allies and camp followers, are threatening to respond to the audacious move with a fearful campaign of murder and terror. By giving in to these forces of hate, Israel and the world would be retreating, and experience shows that such retreats are punished by emboldened terrorists who smell victory.
The free world, moderate Muslims, and moderate Palestinian Arabs who seek to work with Israel should grasp the significance of a united Jerusalem as the recognized center of the Jewish State out of self-interest and because such a move is right.
Chuck Morse is a radio host who broadcasts live Thursday’s at 10 a.m. ET at WMFO-Tufts. Chuck hosts the podcast “Chuck Morse Speaks” on iTunes and Stitcher and his books are available on Amazon.com. For more of his reports